The horse race industry is not only formed by the race tracks; behind it there is a lot of human material among which the following can be highlighted: associations of horse owners, associations of trainers, associations of breeders, associations of jockeys, gallopers, stablemen, horseshoers, vet doctors, food and medicine suppliers, equine transporters, administrators, tellers, waiters, cleaning and general maintenance personnel but, above all, the essence that supports the industry, the bettors. In view of the above, this industry is an important source of employment and income.
As it is known, wagers are the main source of funds to furnish the industry. Presently, thanks to communications via satellite, it is possible to place bets in different horse race tracks with simultaneous races, even when the race tracks are distant from one another, without being important the bettor's location.
The wager in the horse races is called pari-mutuel bet, which means, “to bet among us”. The bettors that wager in a pari-mutuel system are not betting against the racetrack but against the rest of the bettors; this means that the money of the losers bettors is distributed among the winners bettors.
When a wager is placed in the racetrack, that money goes to a “Pool” or betting fund; every type of wager has its own betting fund. The racetrack receives an amount of money as “takeout” or retention for handling the bets, which is assigned for the payment of prizes to the horsemen and breeders and for the expenses of the racetrack. The rest of the money of every type of bet is returned to the bettors in form of payoffs to the winners.
There are two main types of bets:
1. Straight Bets are those involving one competitor (horse, greyhound, car, etc.)                WIN: The bettor wins if the selected competitor finishes in the first position.        PLACE: The bettor wins if the selected competitor finishes in first or second position. However, even when the competitor wins, the bettor cashes the payment of Second position.        SHOW: The bettor wins if the selected competitor finishes in first, second or third position, but cashes payment of Third.        
2. Exotic Wagers are those involving two or more competitor in one or more races.                Exact: The bettor wins if he/she selects the competitor that finish in first and second place, in exact order. For example:                    Exact 3-5                        
Competitor number 3 must win and competitor number 5 must finish second.                Quinella: To win, the bettor must select the competitors that finish in first and second places but, unlike in the Exact wager, the order in which they finish is not important.        Trifecta: The bettor must select the three first places in the official order of finish.        Superfecta: The bettor must select the first four places in the official order of finish.        Triple: The bettor must predict the winners of three consecutive races; he/she must place his/her bet before the first of the three races begins.        Pick Six: The bettor must predict the winners of six consecutive races marked for this wager. If there are no winners in this bet, part of the pool will be accumulated on the next day of races, making it possible for huge jackpots to build.        
Additionally, there are combinations of multiple wagers, as follows:                Box: It allows the bettor to select all possible combinations with the competitors picked for a bet. Every combination costs as one bet. For example:                    Trifecta Box 1, 3, 5                        
The bettor will win if competitors numbers 1, 3 and 5 finish within the first three positions, in any order.
A Trifecta box bet is equivalent to the following (1×2×3=6) 6 bets                1. 1,3,5        2. 1,5,3        3. 3,1,5        4. 3,5,1        5. 5,1,3        6. 5 3,1        Key: It allows selecting a competitor to win with the other possible combinations.        
Example:                Key 1 with 3,5        
This means a bet to first on competitor number 1, and competitors 3 or 5 will finish in the second or third positions.
Such wager is equivalent to the following two bets.                1. 1,3,5        2. 1,5,3        
A Key bet means a lower number of simple bets than a Box bet. Therefore, the cost of the Key bet is lower than the Box bet.
According to the current method of wagering, the bettor must perform the following steps for register a bet:                a) Go to a ticket window and give the mutuel clerk the following information:        1. The name of the race tract;        2. The race number to make a bet on;        3. The amount of the wager;        4. The type of bet to make        5. Give the number(s) of the competitor(s) shown in the program.        
For example: “Santa Anita, Fifth race, $20 Dollars to win on number 6”
The prior at acknowledges basically four forms for registering bets:                1. By means of machines operated by mutuel clerks        2. By means of machines operated by the bettors themselves        3. Through cards, and        4. Recently, through the internet        